Bath time with your furry friend can be... interesting at times! Staying clean and well groomed is essential for your dog's health and wellbeing, but if your dog ins't a fan of being washed it can be more than a little tricky keeping on top of it all. Chances are, if your dog hates bath time then so do you! So how do you make bath time happier, less stressful and more positive for everyone? Here are our top three tips- you can help your dog enjoy bath time!
Take your time
If bath time is a stressful affair for you and your dog, then rushing the whole process might seem very tempting indeed. Actually though, if you slow down and take your time you might find things improve a little. The following tips could help:- Start to prepare early on in the day, and take your dog for a walk first. Because dogs tend to enjoy being in water to cool down when they're hot, the exercise could help to trigger those natural instincts and make your dog less resistant to a dip in the tub. Of course, there's also the added bonus that the walk will tire your dog out, thus resulting in less energy to run away at bath time!
- Start slowly with simply allowing your dog to watch while you run water into the tub. Let your dog get used to the sound, and keep the water level in the tub as low as possible. Cover the feet only, and let your dog see that everything is ok, then gradually increase the volume of water slowly. This gradual process can take some time, and you may not actually complete the first bath at all. That's fine! The idea is to slowly allow your dog to feel comfortable and happy, and that can't be rushed.
- Take a deep breath to stay calm. If your dog senses that you're stressed and anxious, they will pick up on that and react to it. Stay calm, keep your movements slow and measured. Talk to your dog and let him know everything is ok!
Make sure the conditions are right
There are potentially lots of conditions that need to be just right in order for your dog to enjoy bath time! Is the temperature of the water ok?
Lots of dogs like lukewarm water rather than warm, so check before you start. Are there distractions around that your dog is way more interested in? Is he hungry? Tired? Stressed? All of this can impact on how successful bath time is, so take a moment to assess your timing and if it's not right then simply postpone it for a more suitable time.
The products that you use at bath time are important too. Use our Little Beast range to ensure your dog stays happy in the tub!
As with our ‘human’ range, our Little Beast Range is organic; made with totally natural products and fragranced with only pure Essential Oil (no synthetic fragrance), using English Lavender Essential Oil which is known to have a calming effect on pets as it does on humans, Apricot Oil which is both nourishing and moisturizing and ground coffee granules in the Little Beast Bar which naturally protects against fleas and ticks.